Preston's birthday

I can't believe my little guy is getting ready to be two. This last year with him has been such a roller coaster ride. I am so very thankful for all of the many answered prayers that have been answered in regards to him. When we were dealing with all the intestinal stuff, and fighting insurance it felt like we were never going to get to the other side, but praise God He opened the doors and here we are celebrating a HEALTHY two year old who is amazingly sweet and funny. His favorite things lately are Curious George, school buses, vehicles, and reading. He grabs books and grabs whoever he can and says "read it, read it" until you do. He will also grab your hand and try to pull you down and say "sit down and read it." He loves his reading. He also has been walking around singing a song that he has made up himself, it is a combination of the alphabet, twinkle twinkle little star, and Jesus Loves Me. So sweet! We did a school bus theme for his birthday as that is his favorite thing right now. I am so blessed to have such wonderful helpful people in my life. One friend said your job is to tell me what you want and I will make it happen... How awesome is that? So Stephanie made Preston his amazing cake and she made his birthday banner. She also helped do lots of set up and the clean up. AMAZINGLY blessed am I!!! We had a gorgeous day, and were so happy to be able to celebrate with lots of people that we love. Preston loves Abby and Bre, those are some of his favorite friends.

I'm a big girl now!!!

Paisley is doing so incredibly well. They were thinking about taking her out of the incubator tomorrow but she kept her little self so warm today that they had to take her out of it today so she wouldn't be too hot!!! She continues to gain weight well and is up to 4lb 5oz. Auntie Chantal came and loved on her today which was so nice. It is so nice to be surrounded by so much love and support. The kids at home are being loved on by tons of people too. I think it is still really hard, wanting to be at home and wanting to be with Paisley but we are just so blessed with so many people willing to help. I was really struggling last Friday feeling so torn between Paisley and my big kids. Sam had IVIG (which praise God Auntie Paula went with him to), Sophia was having tons of pain in her mouth and had an emergency dentist visit.... Preston is just missing things being normal at home.... I just want to be everywhere at once.

P is still struggling and Abby and Bre come to visit

Preston continues to have a really tough time. His appetite is horrible and he is extremely irritable. Poor guy had a horrible night last night. He was completely inconsolable for quite a while in the middle of the night. Daddy prayed over him and we sang Jesus loves me over and over again until we got him calmed down. I brought him in to our pediatrician today and she is very concerned about how much weight he has lost. Unfortunately the doctor that did the transplant is out of the country and unreachable at this time. The on call for him has ordered a bunch of tests. So I will get that done in the morning. They are testing to see if the intestinal infection is back. I am just so overwhelmed with all of this. I feel like he is doing worse than he was before he had the transplant. I keep telling myself that it is just a hard recovery period for him but I am starting to wonder.... I heard a wonderful song today, that has just kept me focused on God and His goodness. The song is by Hillsong and it is called "Healer". One line of the song says " I know your my healer, I believe your more than enough for me..." Claiming God's healing for my little guy!!! The man who is singing this song in the video is actually battling cancer... Auntie Chantal, Abby and Bre came over to play the other day. I just love these three so much! I so wish that we could see each other more often and that our schedules/location weren't so difficult to work with. Preston and Abby had so much fun together, and Bre and Preston kind of butted heads a little bit :-)

Being honest....

So I will be honest, dealing with Preston's illness has really really had me struggling. I feel so overwhelmed and stressed with the realization that P is sick too. I had started wrapping my brain around the thought that although it would stink if he had the same immunodeficiency tht Sam had, we would be ok. I had the attitude of "We've been there done that..." Yes I was thinking htat yep it would totally be stinky but that I could handle it. But that is not the case... It would appear that Preston's immune stuff is worse and more complicated than Sam. And I was really letting that scare me. But I am so thankful for a God that reminds us ever so gently that He doesn't want "ME" to handle it, He wants to carry the burden and us through it. It hit me so clearly this week. I was feeling so anxious and scared thinking that I didn't know how "I" could handle this, but praise God I serve the ONE who can handle this for us. Yesterday God reminded me again of how He provides in every situation, in unexpected ways. I had been feeling so sad that we hadn't celebrated Preston's birthday, and since we had already rescheduled 3x I was just feeling like we had to get it done. I was stressed about exposing him to lots of people, stressed about having tons of people at our house and even more stressed about decorating, feeding and entertaining people when I was feeling so overwhelmed and exhausted. And then my amazing friend, who is more like a sister, offered to host P's party at her house!!! I am still so amazed that she offered this tremendous blessing to me. Yesterday turned out beautifully! I am so very thankful to everyone who helped celebrate Preston and his first birthday. To Megan and Jeremy, thank you from the bottom of my heart! I am so very thankful for your love prayers and friendship. You made a beautiful day for Preston. I had all these great plans for his birthday, and had been workig diligently getting things done. And then I just got so overwhelmed that I couldn't get out of my own way. And then God AGAIN reminded me that EVERYTHING is possible with Him, and that it never was MY party to do. It was all in His hands from the beginning, and when I "Let Go and Let GOD" all things worked amazingly well. I ordered this amazing outfit and bib to go with our Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle theme. I ordered it from The Fresh Vintage Shop. The owner of the shop was amazing to work with. I am ordering some clothes for Sophia next. I HIGHLY recommend her.

How sweet is this?

The romper had fruit embroidered on his bottom

This is the best made bib I have seen, super absorbant and so well made. Not to mention tremendously cute In going with the Hungry Caterpillar theme there is all kinds of ideas out there. My best friend Chantal worked on decorations, as did I. And then at the party my friends Meg and Tipp just did such a great job turning my desires into reality. Everything looked so cute...

He had so much fun opening and CLIMBING on his presents...

I made cupcakes and cake that were "Sammy safe." I made chocolate and vanilla. Preston REALLY enjoyed his...

For some reason the rest won't upload right now....Will add some more tomorrow. But I just want to encourage those out there that are struggling with something. YOU don't have to do it alone, REALLY TRULY LET GO AND LET GOD! When I let go and gave it to God an opportunity that I never knew existed occured. I would have never asked someone to host a part for me... But in giving my stress to God, it allowed my amazing friends to be vessels for His glory! Let Go and Let GOD, and wait until you see how God will work in your situation!!!